But it's time to loosen up this year. The world of beauty is bringing about a new season, infusing old-fashioned romanticism into our hectic modern life.

Yes. From hair to makeup, this year's beauty trend is all about merging modernity with romance. Sweet pastel tones, along with glamorous shades are back on the catwalks, blending with some playful and fresh touches characterizing today's modern life.

"It's like taking elements you see in our urban environment and putting them into place with inspirations from your old or traditional surroundings," revealed Hollywood's makeup artists Bruce Grayson during the P&G's Beautisphere event in Bali recently.

Just like Grayson, Hollywood's top hairstylist Sam McKnight juxtaposes contrasting elements in his hair creations.

"This season's hairstyles are the absolute definition of modern elegance," McKnight said. "We've been talking about sensuality, softness, texture, shine, simplicity and the appearance of effortlessness at nearly all of the shows we did this season," he added.

Both McKnight and Grayson adopted the term "Techno Romance", a philosophy they developed with consumer product giant Proctor & Gamble (P&G) trend experts and beauty specialists from across the world, when describing the key hair and makeup looks for 2010.

Over 20 media publications across Asia and Australia were exclusively briefed about hair and makeup trends for 2010 at Bali's Beautisphere event - all reflecting a certain Techno Romance, while local top stylists from each region were invited to spin the trends locally.

Indonesian top stylists Rudi Hadisuwarno, Alfons, Jacky Timurtius, Sugimartono, Jonki Pitoi, Kusumadewi, and Michael Zimbalist infused some unique Asian flavors and styles into the Techno Romance philosophy.

Inspired by the urban lifestyle, Techno Romance highlights how urbanization, technology and beauty come together in a new look that will influence lifestyle and set beauty tones on and off runways in the next 12 months.

"Techno Romance is about how technology will deliver the future but in a romantic and feminine way," said Vassiliki Petrou, P&G beauty director and trend expert.

"When we started looking into what was in store for 2010, a few key tenets came to mind: the rapid explosion of information in recent years, the emerging belief that one can be *forever young' with the help of technology, and the blending of the real and virtual worlds," she added.

Beauty trend experts therefore sought to balance such complex lifestyles with something classic and poetic. Yes, this year, expect to give some feminine touch to your hair and makeup.

Starting with makeup, Techno Romance aims for a playful yet glamorous final look, with sherbet and energetic pastels.

"Colors in makeup will mainly be pastel ones," said Ronald Low, P&G education manager.

".Like light blue, light pink, light purple or maybe yellow," he added.

In line with Low, Petrou traced the Techno Romance look to Valentino's recent fashion show, where the soft nude, rose, lavender, gold and gray tones became the big color story of the season.

Grayson added that Techno Romance transpired through his work at the prestigious Emmy Awards, where he heads the makeup department.

"Techno Romance *looks* at the Emmy's, in essence, were strong bold looks tailored to women's individuality," he said, adding that it was about sculpted cheeks, shaped lips and strongly defined eyes - all of which express our individuality.

P&G created two key looks to represent the philosophy of Techno Romance for makeup styles - Classic Hollywood and Techno Sherbet.

Now, if you still remember Marilyn Monroe's iconic sensual red lips, that's what the first style is all about.

Classic Hollywood is a call back to the classic romantic cinema: sweeping red-colored lipstick to make our lips the centerpiece of the makeup ritual.

To achieve the Techno Sherbet look, on the other hand, you can create a sculpted effect around your jaw line, eyes and cheeks with sweet, romantic pastel-colored makeup.

What about Techno Romance hairstyles? For P&G, five looks - Long Luxe, Techno Poetry, Braid Parade, The Pin-Up and Shapely Silhouette - define Techno Romance's feminine hairstyle, which come with a light and soft feel, as well as texture creating movement.

You could pick Long Luxe, a simple and classic hairstyle as your everyday look if you're after flowing waves that are natural, fresh and unadorned.

As for Asians, Low revealed, "It will be more about very light cool brown *colors*."

Techno Romance is also about wearing your short hair around the ear, or down all the way to the shoulder. "so that it's very light, very glowing, with a lot of texture to it."

While Low explored simpler ways to style our hair, McKnight focused more on shaping hair in a sophisticated way, for example with the classic Braid Parade. Yes, if you can still remember how graceful braided hairstyles were in the past, then you might want to consider them for today's look.

"Braids are back in style," McKnight said. And with Techno Romance, braiding is more than just twisting your hair into a ponytail, involving braids curled up into stylish buns, creating a bold yet romantic look. "You can create glamorous looks with braids too," said McKnight.

McKnight's Shapely Silhouette comes closest to reflecting the Techno Romance philosophy, sculpting hair into fantastic shapes with high buns.

Does Techno Romance sound impossible to achieve on a daily basis? Don't worry, no matter how insane something looks on a catwalk, ideas will always filter down to the high street in a different form - because that's how fashion and beauty trends work. Catwalks merely serve as inspiration.

No need to go extremes. You can tone that look down by creating smaller, messier buns still in true Pin-Up fashion. This unraveled up-do is truly seductive and makes a statement of romance.

Now, there are few more fancy tips you might want to consider to complement your Techno Romance look this year. The first one: your outfit, which will complement your hair and makeup. What are the fashion guidelines this year for clothes?

"Techno Romance focuses on fresh day-gloss colors that express an urban romantic style," said Petrou. So, as she suggested, if you wish to dress fashionably this year, go for fabrics with colors that are "alive", either tie-dyed or brightened using another innovative technology.

And along with your vibrant, romantic-style outfit, do not forget fragrance. Go for some floral scents like orchids, lilacs, roses, daisies, irises and violets this year.

Now that the curtain is up, are you ready to uncover the techno romantic in you?

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